People will be able to use smartphones, credit cards on public transport

Brisbane commuters will get discounts on public transport if they buy more than one trip at a time.

The Queensland budget reveals a $371.1 million spend over four years for a new public transport ticketing system.

A new public transport ticketing system will allow people to make payments with smartphones and reintroduce discounts for buying more than one ride at a time.

Photo: Michelle Smith

In the future, people will be able to use wearable devices, such as smartphones and smartwatches, to buy tickets, along with credit and debit cards.

But it will not mean the death of go cards.

There is also $8 million over three years, starting in the next year, for trials and pilots of the new system.

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Treasurer Jackie Trad said the more convenient public transport was, the more people would use it.

"The new ticketing system is an exciting chance to expand our ticketing options and to give public transport customers more flexibility," she said.

"I expect that there will be arrangements in place around the ticketing to make mass purchases of rides, of journeys, cheaper than one-offs."

Weekly and monthly tickets were scrapped about eight years ago, and the cost of paper tickets hiked, in an attempt to force passengers to take up go cards.

Ms Trad said the details of the new system were being worked through as part of the design process, but wearables, debit and credit card payments, in addition to the existing go card and paper ticket options, were "all on the table".

She said a global procurement process was being finalised.

"We expect to be able to announce the successful proponent in the near future," she said.

A new ticketing system for Queensland has been on the cards for some time, with expressions of interest for a new transport card called in 2015, amid the looming end of the contract with Cubic.

The contract expiry date with Cubic to manage and operate the go card system has been extended until September 2020 to allow time for the procurement process, design and full implementation to take place.

The budget also included a $2.5 million Queensland Walking Strategy to encourage people to walk as a mode of transport, while there was $20 million over four years to increase the number of shelters at public transport stops.